Tag Archives: meditation

Energy creates and energy attracts. And there are two very powerful energies available to us: the energy of fear, and the energy of love. They are both powerful energies that magnetize more of what we’re either loving, or more of what we’re fearful. Of these, love is a powerful magnetizer. And I’m speaking of love in terms of what it really is – a Power, a Divine Power, and not a feeling. I’m not referring to the love you feel for your spouse, your children, your pets, etc. I’m talking about the Power that is the energy of God in our lives. We get a glimpse of that power when we fall in love, or when we watch our children doing something amazing, or when we pet our cat or dog. But the power of love is so much more. It’s the power that creates the universe and that expresses as each one of us.

Charles Fillmore has said, “God does not love anybody or anything. God is the love in everybody and everything. God is the love; man becomes loving by permitting that which God is to find expression in word and act.”

But you see, we can’t experience that while we’re in fear. And, on the surface, there seems to be a lot to be fearful of these days. It’s a challenge to stay centered in Love. Some people just don’t want to hear what’s happening, don’t want to read the news, because they don’t want to get sucked up in the negative energy. And believe me, I understand that.

I think part of the fear comes from a sense of powerlessness. We sometimes feel powerless over the forces that seem to be taking over.

What’s the best cure for a sense of powerlessness? Taking action. Standing up, speaking our truth, taking some kind of action…even if it seems small. All of this helps us reclaim our sense of power. And it all makes a difference. But we must do it from a place of love. We must connect with our Love Power Center first and with our awareness of our oneness with everyone, then we take action. When we do this, we are contributing to the healing of the world, rather than just building more fear.

There is a saying in the Course in Miracles that goes: “You create what you defend against.” For a long time, I didn’t really know what that meant. I finally came to the understanding that when you are defending against something, you are giving it a lot of energy. You are giving what you really don’t want, lots of energy. You also are usually in fear of that thing you are defending against. And remember what I said, fear magnetizes to itself more of same.

So it’s really important that we are not fighting against, or defending against, but instead loving what it is we want.

There’s a passage in the Upanishads that goes:

“As great as the infinite space beyond is the space within the lotus of the heart. Both heaven and earth are contained in that inner space, both fire and air, sun and moon, lightning and stars. Whether we know it in this world or know it not, everything is contained in that inner space.”

We can use this power of love to create what it is we really want, both personally and for our world.

We can use this magnetizing power of love…that we have as one of our spiritual powers…to draw to us what we really want…both personally in own individual lives, and collectively as a world. Let’s hold in our minds eye the realization of whatever we truly desire both personally…whether that’s more joy, better relationships, increased prosperity, fulfillment, healing, guidance (whatever it is) and hold in our mind’s eye what we want as a country…inclusiveness, diversity, peace, harmony, opportunity and prosperity for all, a government that works, a collective agreement to see, and to treat our planet as sacred. Hold that in your mind’s eye and then activate that power center of love within you. Feel the love radiating out from your heart like a light, and place that vision right in the light of that love.

I’ve recorded a meditation that guides you step-by-step through the entire process. If you fill out the form below I will be happy to send it to you free.

As I write this it is March 1st, but here on the East Coast it feels like we are in the depths of winter. And even so, we are actually at the turning point of the winter season. Even though everything outside appears frozen and barren, under the surface, there are millions of miracles occurring…millions of seeds are actively germinating. In ancient Celtic traditions, and other “Earth-based” traditions this time is revered. It’s sometimes called Imbolc, and sometimes called St. Briget’s Day. And it has a definite feminine, womb-like feel to it.

If we follow nature’s cue, for us it can be a time of of preparation. A time of new beginnings. A time to begin to break out of the hardness of winter and to open to the increasing light…and allow it to encourage the emergence of our true essence.

I’ve always felt that all we need to know about how to live a joyful, fulfilling life and to reach our full Divine potential we can find by looking to nurture. Thoreau taught us this. He wrote: Nature is full of genius, full of divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand.

Looking at nature, we can see that within an acorn there is the perfect Divine Design that…giving the right conditions…will emerge into a magnificent oak tree. The oak tree is all already there, complete, in the seed. The only thing it needs is to break out of the hard shell that encases and protects it. Thanks to the magic of time-lapse photography, you can see the process happen right now in just a few minutes. Click here to watch this miraculous video now:

The thing about an acorn is that is has a really hard shell. How do squirrels do it? Really sharp teeth I guess. But, on its own, it is the will of the life inside the acorn needing to grow and become what it is meant to be. The will of that life needing to express it full potential. That’s what pushes against and breaks through that hard shell and casts it aside. And it can really do that only when is it sufficiently nurtured. In other words, when the seed is deep within moist, nurturing soil. Only then does it feel safe enough to burst out of its hard, protective shell and emerge as the oak tree it was designed to become.

You can probably see where I’m going with this…

The same is true for us. At the core of our being – since the moment we were born (and probably even before) there is a beautiful and perfect pattern for a glorious, successful life where we are expressing our unique talents and abilities, where we are loving and giving, where we are loved and nurtured, where we are abundantly provided for, where we are expressing our beauty and wholeness. That’s in our “acorn”. It’s coded in our DNA. And everything we need to live a fulfilling, joyful life is within us right there at the beginning…day one.

But, in order for us to experience this glorious life, we must break out of the hard, protective shell that is trapping our magnificence. Because we can’t experience any of it while we’re encased in the shell. So, here’s how to break free:

A moment ago I mentioned “will”…that it’s the will of the life inside the acorn to become what it is meant to be. Will is one of the Power Centers located in our energetic body. Will is located in the forehead and is our power to choose, decide, direct, and determine. Now, the power of Will used by the ego creates someone who is bossy, obstinate, inflexible, selfish, etc. But Will in the hands of our Authentic Self is our power of intention inspired by the Divine; and our power to move forward. It’s the activating power!

So the first thing we need in order to do break through that hard shell and to fully blossom into a more expansive experience of life is to draw from the inspiration of our innate Divine pattern and decide to activate it! That’s Step 1. I’ve written about and talked about this process quite a bit, so I’m not going to focus on this step today. Instead…I want to focus on the shell.

Each of us has a “shell” that takes a different form for each person. However there are common themes.

For some, the shell is a defense mechanism…the ego that tries to protect us and keep us safe (and by doing so prevents our true self from emerging.) Perhaps we’ve been profoundly hurt before when we tried to break free and love with abandon. So our defensive shell insures that doesn’t happen again!

For others this shell is an unwillingness to try something new, to break out of old habits…old ways of doing things…old routines. Or it’s something we’ve been holding onto for far too long.

For some of us this shell is our fear….our fear, based on ignorance or a false belief…an old story we’ve told ourselves that we don’t have anything to offer, or we’re not good enough. We might have a lack of belief in ourselves overall, or a lack of trust that we’ll be okay. Or, we have a false belief that the world does not value what we have to offer, or that the world won’t accept us in some way.

That shell is different for all of us. But one thing is for sure…it’s gotta go if we want to grow! If we want to express our potential and have a full, love-filled, joyous life. It’s gotta go.

That’s Step Two. Identifying what that shell is for you.

Step Three is the process by which we break of out of that hard shell. New Thought pioneer, Ernest Holmes, points us toward this one in the following statement:

“[One’s] entire “treatment” (which is what he called affirmative prayer) is based on the assumption that there is a spiritual pattern at the center of everything. The perfect was always there, it was implanted by the Spirit. The imperfect has been added by the human mind. What the human mind has put there, it can take away. What the Divine has implanted cannot be uprooted; it can only appear to be covered up. Spiritual practice is an uncovering of the Divine Nature.”

The Divine didn’t put the shell of fear, defense, unwillingness there. We did. What we put there, we can remove. It’s simply covering up our innate Divine Nature, preventing our “oak tree” from fully emerging. And we do that with Spiritual Practice.

You see how the first thing this seed has to do before it can fully emerge from the shell is to send down roots deep into the soil. That’s where its strength comes from and where it is sufficiently nurtured. The same is true for us. We need to send our roots deep into a nurturing environment. That nurturing environment takes two different forms for us — one interior and the other exterior.

The first, interior, is about regular, daily connecting deeply with Spirit. Meditation is how many of us achieve that. For other’s it’s walking a Labyrinth, or chanting, or some other meditative practice. But it’s where we connect with Source…and are nurtured by that Source. Having a regular, daily proactive gratitude process is another very important part of this.

The Exterior form of a nurturing environment is about immersing ourselves into, and being nurtured by, spiritual community. That spiritual community may be for you a church, synagogue or a temple. For others it may be a study group, spiritual reading group or service group. Whatever it is…dive in. Send your roots deeply in. Participate. Take classes. Be of service. And let yourself be nurtured by that environment. Surround yourself with positive, heart-centered, life affirming people. Open yourself to the spiritual support that’s available in your community.

These two practices…interior and exterior…are how we immerse ourselves in a nurturing environment, build strength, get nurtured — which eventually allows us to break free of the old shell much more easily and quickly.

If you look, you will begin to see that there is a direct connection between individuals who are experiencing their Divine Potential emerging and regular spiritual practice combined with immersing themselves in a nurturing supportive environment. And if you have been doing regular daily spiritual practice and participating in your spiritual community but you haven’t seen “results” yet – then just trust that you will see it soon. Like the seed germinating – there’s an amazing miracle happening just under the surface. On the surface you may not be able to see anything yet. But it’s happening. Trust the process. Connect with the energy of this season and trust. And get ready for some amazing blossoming in your life soon!

If you want to get a jump start on this, I’ve recorded a guided meditation to help get your roots firmly planted in nurturing soil. Leave reply below with your email address and I’ll be happy to send it to you free of charge.

If you’ve ever been in England you’ve seen this expression “Mind the Gap” posted in the underground stations, to alert you to pay attention to the space between the platform and the train. It’s a valid warning, you don’t want to get your foot stuck in the space between, or drop anything down in there…you’ll never see it again.

In Eastern thought, though, the gap is a much desired place to be. The gap is the space between your thoughts…usually referring to the practice of meditation. Mystics and yogi’s recognize that no one can simply stop their thoughts, or “will themselves” to quiet their mind. What we can do though is to widen the distance between our thoughts and cultivate an awareness of that space — to be mindful of the gap and to encourage it. When we do this, we are rewarded with peace of mind and increasing our ability to hear the voice of the Divine within us, among other things. The gap is the golden place, where transformation occurs.

The gap that I am thinking about today is also something to be mindful of – and it has the potential of being a golden, transformational time. It’s a the place we sometimes find ourselves in that’s between no longer accepting an old way of perceiving ourselves and the world — and not yet experiencing the fullness of what we now know to be true.

It’s that place between “no longer” and “not yet”.

For example: Maybe you no longer accept the idea that you are a victim of circumstance. Maybe you used to believe that outside circumstances or situations controlled your experience in life. Perhaps you used to accept that your employment was dependent on a specific company or individual. Or that your experience of prosperity was determined by your employer. Maybe you once believed that your ability to love was dependent on another person. Or that your body is subject to the diseases of old age. Whenever we have repeated experiences in our lives or an ongoing challenge, we know it is a direct result of what we believe to be true about ourselves. It’s first a thought… which if continued, becomes a belief, which then becomes our experience. This is the Law of Cause and Effect, or the Law of Attraction, or the Law of Manifestation. Whatever you want to call it, it’s exacting.

Anyway, your old ideas about your limited self are now in the past. You no longer accept that nonsense. You know that you are a powerful co-creator in life and all that you have ever needed is within you. You know that the Source of all your good is the Infinite, limitless, unbounded. This is the Source of all…which created you out of Itself. You are an expression of It, therefore you are already whole and complete, abundant, love-filled, joyous, fulfilled and all of your needs are met now. You know this in your heart of hearts. However, you are not yet experiencing that truth in your life. You are in the gap.

So, what is the “gap” and why is it that we don’t manifest our new consciousness immediately in our lives? Why do we have to be in a “gap?”

Well first of all, it’s a good thing that ideas in our consciousness do NOT manifest immediately. Think about it. Think about all the fearful fantasies you have had. The nightmare scenarios you have imagined for yourself such as, “That bump on my skin is cancer, I know it!” or if you have kids and you temporarily can’t find them, you think, “They’ve been kidnapped!” or perhaps your fearful thoughts about the world, “We’re all gonna die in a nuclear blast!” etc. Thank God there is a time gap between the thoughts we hold in our minds and what actually manifests — so that we can review it all and make sure that’s what we really want to create. Most the time we come to our senses and remind ourselves that ultimately, all is well.

So, the buffer zone of the gap gives us a chance to re-examine our beliefs.

Secondly there is the natural order of growth from the formless to the form in this dense, physical universe. Ernest Holmes once wrote: “The Truth is instantaneous in its demonstration, taking only such time in Its unfoldment as is inherent in the law of logical and sequential evolution.”

So, then the question becomes: “Well, what do I do while in the gap? Is there anything beneficial I can do?” And, that’s a good question! It’s actually vital. Because many of us, when we don’t realize we’re in the gap…when we don’t see an immediate response to our prayers, or to our new consciousness…we think that it doesn’t work, and we begin to doubt and fall back into our fears and our negative thinking patterns. And that just negates the new awareness we’d developed. It’s like taking one step forward and one step back. Ever have that experience?

So, we want to nurture the environment of the gap while we are in it in order to allow for our new consciousness to emerge from that fertile time. And we can do that best by practicing proactive gratitude. Here’s what I mean…

You know when you plant seeds in the soil, it takes some time before you see anything happen. From the surface it looks like nothing is happening. But, under the surface, a tremendous amount of energy is being expended to release the hidden potential within that seed, to push through the hard shell and then through the soil. That’s the gap experience. If we water the soil where the seeds are planted we will create a nourishing environment for the seeds to grow. That’s what gratitude does – it nurtures the environment in the gap that allows for your new consciousness to emerge into experience.

So, looking for things to be grateful for and focusing on those things, and celebrating those things, creates the energetic current that allows for the manifestation. This is an important, golden time where you want to reaffirm the realizations you have come to regarding your limitless nature and your worthiness of all the good you can imagine for yourself. You want to water that soil with as much positivity and affirmation as you can. Practicing proactive gratitude does that. It gets you to a place where you realize, “yeah…there is a lot of good in my life – look at all this good! Look at that beautiful sunrise. Look at the abundance all around me. I’m so grateful for my health…for the things that do work well in my body. I’m so grateful for my wonderful, supportive friends, and my spiritual community that nurtures and supports my growing awareness. God must love me…the universe must indeed be for me!” So you get to a place where an abundance of good just feels natural to you. And when that happens, the manifestation of your new consciousness is immanent. It’s a heartbeat away.

Secondly, a very important thing we want to do while in the gap is to surround ourselves with positive people…life-affirming folks who are themselves on a path of spiritual growth. This is a sensitive time. We can so easily be influenced by others’ energetic vibrations during this time. So negative, doubt-filled people are not the ones we want to be hangin’ with when we’re in the gap. We want to surround ourselves with only those who will affirm our growing awareness with us and can help us see the good that’s in process of manifesting.

So practice proactive gratitude daily, choose who you hang with carefully and remember that this is a fertile time. If you tend to it wisely, you will reap the rich harvest of your new expanded awareness.

I can’t believe I’ve been writing about proactive gratitude for this long without mentioning the practice of meditation. Not that one must meditate daily to benefit from the practice of gratitude. Not at all. However, meditation can serve as a “way in.” It’s the best way I know to connect with the heart; to connect with the Source from which all things flow, to enter the vibration of gratitude and to allow it to permeate our cells.

On a purely physiological level, meditation has been scientifically proven to reduce stress, calm the central nervous system, and relieve a host of problems from anxiety to sleep disorders and even drug addiction. Meditation is considered to be beneficial to the immune system which is our defense against a myriad of diseases. Meditation aids one’s ability to concentrate and improves overall mental alertness. Research has found that individuals who have practiced meditation throughout their lives look eight to ten years younger than their peers. This may be because meditation gives your body and mind a deep rest — much more than sleep itself. For whatever period of time you spend in meditation, your entire being dwells in a state of suspended timelessness.

This sense of timelessness is another important benefit of meditation, for it gives you the opportunity to be entirely in the present moment. Most of us fluctuate between living in the past and in the future. We are often influenced by what just happened: “What did she mean when she said that?” “He was such a jerk to me.” Or, we critique our own performance, “How did I come across?” or “I should have said….” Alternately, our present moment awareness is robbed by the enormous amounts of time we spend planning the future: “What will I wear?” “What will I do?” “What will I say?” “What will I make for dinner?” “Will he/she call?” “What will I do with the kids this weekend?” and of course, “How will this situation turn out?”

Rarely do we spend much time simply being in the here and now, enjoying the fact that we are alive…feeling grateful for our life and all the magic therein. Meditation give us the opportunity to be fully present in the moment, to breathe in life and to connect with the Source. It is an experience that replenishes us and allows us to move through the day alert to the blessings in life. Meditation allows love and gratitude to fill us up and keep us full.

There are as many forms of meditation as there are personality types, and therefore there is one that will fit you. So experiment and find one that calls to you. But don’t get into the trap of waiting to find the “right” meditation technique or guru. You can start right now by just sitting still, closing your eyes and focusing on your breath. That’s all. Do that for a few minutes and you’ll soon feel a deep sense of peace. Keep practicing and you’ll begin to realize the benefits of meditation that I mentioned above.

Today I thought I’d share a little bit with you about how and why I started The Gratitude Experiment.

Since the age of 16, when I was introduced to meditation and Ernest Holmes’ The Science of Mind (which is basically the idea that we are, in essence, spiritual beings and our thoughts are creative) I have pursued spirituality with a passion. I have always been a meditator, a positive thinker and consider myself an optimist. I’ve given workshops, lectures, written a book and many articles on various aspects of New Thought and how we can work with the Law of Attraction to manifest our heart’s desires. I have experienced miraculous demonstrations in my own life using these techniques. My life is not perfect. My consciousness is not perfect. But I consider myself immensely blessed.

I’ve always included the idea of gratitude as part of this practice, but I realize now, that I had only skimmed the surface. I did not understand how powerful the practice of proactive gratitude can be…until recently…

…Until one very cold day last November when I went for a run in the woods close to where we live in North Carolina with my dog. I was deep in thought about my life. I couldn’t understand why, with all the meditation and imaging and affirmations and prayers that there were things that were not going well…at all. I was having tremendous challenges with one of my children. I wondered why my beloved Love & Blessings business was failing. You probably know how this goes…one negative “woe-is-me” thought follows another. I quickly became consumed by the idea that all the opportunities in my career had passed me by and how unfair it all seemed. It was unusually cold and most of the trees had already shed their leaves. I was running tired and kept stumbling over stones and tree roots. I was just considering turning back, when my dog (on leash) stopped and sniffed at something for what seemed like an eternity. Irritated at the idea of being forced to stop, I grumbled something, and then suddenly…I looked up and noticed it.

The sun had broken through the clouds and appeared to be shining directly on one tree in a grassy patch. This tree still had its leaves which had turned golden, and in the direct sunlight it positively glowed. I stood there in amazement. “What beauty! What a gift this is!” How could I dwell on all that appeared wrong in life when this miracle stood before me? As I began to open to gratitude for this, a wave of love and gratitude flooded me and I felt like I was floating. I felt so one with tree and with the forest.

I started to give thanks to the universe for the beauty of this site, and then gave thanks to my dog for stopping me so that I wouldn’t miss it. I was grateful for the whole forest and for the opportunity to run in it that morning with my dog. Well, as it happens with gratitude, one gratitude led to another and then to another, and another. This attitude of sudden gratitude started slipping into my thoughts about my life and, before long, I began to realize my life was pretty darned blessed. My thoughts turned to all the prosperity, love and well-being in my life. A blast of energy rushed through my body and I was suddenly leaping over stones and roots.

When I got back home I was changed…perhaps forever. Not because of the mystical experience I had in the woods (although that sure helped), but because I made a committment to practice gratitude on a much deeper level than ever before. Mystical experiences don’t carry us through challenging days. They are, by nature, fleeting. It takes practice to incorporate what we know into our daily lives, in order to experience transformation.

A few days later, I decided that, in order to support myself in my gratitude practice, and perhaps inspire and support others in their transformational practice of gratitude, I would keep a blog and update it daily. This site went up Thanksgiving Day and has been a source of support for my own practice of intentional…or “proactive” gratitude…and for many others as well. I hope it is for you too. For more info on what “proactive” gratitude is and how to participate, simply click on the How to Participate tab by the sunset on the top left.

Here is part 2 in our discussion about why some may not be having as much success using the principles of manifestation. If you missed Part 1, scroll down to the next entry. Then come back here for my 3-step plan for applying the Law of Attraction effectively in every area of your life.

Discovering and transforming limiting core beliefs is absolutely essential if you want to manifest a more expansive and abundant life. The good news is that you can do it. This is totally in your power. The reality is that it takes some work. However, I’ve come up with a 3-step plan that will make that “work” a little easier…and very effective.

1. Inner Wisdom Journaling. One of the best ways that I have found for uncovering deeply held beliefs is to practice “inner wisdom guided” journaling. Give yourself a good 30 to 60 minutes and a quiet place where you will not be disturbed during this process.

Before you begin, close your eyes and take several deep, cleansing and relaxing breaths. Then, ask your inner wisdom to guide you to the deep recesses of your mind…the nooks and crannies of memories, past hurts and childhood “lessons.” Visualize your inner wisdom shining a brilliant flash light into these areas. Take your time with this part of the process.

Then, when you feel ready, open your eyes and pick up your pencil. Allow your hand to be guided as it writes…without editing…onto the page. Keep writing. The more you write, the clearer things becomes. Neatness counts against you here. Be messy. Fill up several pages. Fill up an entire journal if you need to. No one will read it but you. If you’re messy enough, no one will understand it but you!

2. Practice Forgiveness. One of the blocks I see preventing people from attracting what they truly desire to experience in their lives is the energy of resentment and regret. Whether it’s resentment against some person or situation, or regret over your own past mistakes, it’s an energy that will block your good from getting to you. Even though these mistakes and hurts happened in the past, they are still very much alive in the present…even if you are not consciously aware of them. And it is this energy that will choke off the growth of any new good.

Forgiveness frees you to realize your potential. When you truly forgive someone, or some situation, or yourself, you will uproot these weeds, allowing your mental garden the space it needs to blossom.

Forgiveness begins with a willingness to let go and move on. Forgiveness does not mean condoning someone’s bad behavior or inviting them over for dinner. It means you are willing to separate what someone did from who they are in truth…a human being trying to make his or her way through life and naturally making mistakes. The same goes for you. In truth, we human beings can only do the best we can with the consciousness that we have at the time. If you’ve made mistakes in your past, you can begin today to be willing to see that you did the best you possibly could given your understanding at the time.

Spend as much time as necessary in prayer, meditation, journaling, or silently blessing yourself, the situation and the other person. See yourself cutting the cord that has bound you to this person in a web of negative energy. You’ll be amazed at how light and free you feel.

3. Meditation. Learn to meditate and practice it regularly. It is in meditation that the ego’s voice will be seen for what it is…an obstacle obscuring the light of your true self.

With a regular meditation practice you will connect with your inner magnificence and begin to understand the truth that you are loved and that you deserve a love-filled, joy-filled and abundant life. You will begin to feel, on a very deep level, that a magnificent, abundant life has already been given to you. You already have the fulfillment of your heart’s desires, and you simply need to own this truth and allow it manifest in your experience. This you will begin to feel in meditation. And, after a while, that deep understanding gleaned in the 20 to 30 minutes of daily meditation will begin to seep into your subconscious, transmuting any limiting beliefs that have been hanging out there.

There are as many teachers and types of meditation as there are varieties of chocolate. I offer one in my Manifesting Your Desires Program. Find one that suits you and just do it!

Don’t allow these limiting core beliefs, regrets and resentments to rob you of the magnificent life you were meant to life. Do not delay your good one more moment. Practice these three keys and watch as the floodgates open and an abundance of love, joy, prosperity and success pours into your life. Then, you’ll be the one on Oprah sharing with the world how you’ve applied the Law of Attraction and are now experiencing the manifestation of limitless good in your life.

Like most Southern California natives, I thought I knew what spring was. It’s when the leaves come back on those few deciduous trees, and it starts to get hot again around February. Ha! I had no idea. I had no clue! Have you ever experience a friend describing events in detail, but you can’t really picture it until you experience it first hand? Well, when I moved to the cold Northeast this last winter (shivering and wondering why there were so many dead trees everywhere) people kept telling me to “Hold on, the spring here is magnificent!”

Okay, now I get it. I’ve never really experienced a real spring before. What a fabulous season! The variety of blossoms and the sweet aroma in the air is indescribable. Everywhere I look, I’m amazed at Mother Nature’s color palette: pale pinks, bright pinks, lavender, yellows and white mixed with the bright, light green of tender new leaves. It’s what inspired the Impressionists.

And it’s interesting that many East coast natives don’t really notice it anymore. They tend to talk about the bugs and the pollen. Yes, that’s here too, but I’m so bowled over by the beauty, I haven’t been paying attention. I hope I never become inured to the splendor.

So it was just such a spring morning, when walking my dog through the woods that the rebirth process of nature struck me on a whole new level. These trees that appeared so lifeless, so dead, were now pregnant with thousands of tiny buds. It got my full attention. They had something to teach me about the process of manifestation. Here goes…

Many have an area of our lives that, appears on the surface, dead. Maybe you’ve worked really hard to bring something good to life in your world…with no success. Perhaps you keep trying and trying, becoming frustrated with each failed attempt. Maybe you’ve given up and are pretending to tolerate an unfulfilling life. Perhaps you’ve rationalized away your desire for a more joyous and fulfilling life. I know I’ve done that with certain areas of my life.

If so, join with me in turning to nature to see if we can’t mimic its miraculous process of rebirth.

If an alien (or a Southern Californian, for that matter) landed on this planet in the middle of winter anywhere in the Northern hemisphere he would see, with the exception of the evergreens, nothing but dead trees and bushy sticks growing out of the ground. He would see frozen ground and think, “there’s no life growing here.” But we Earthlings know that nothing could be further from the truth. If he waits a few months, he’ll witness a miracle of transformation. Around March, April or May strange pods begin to develop on all the branches seemingly overnight. As the planet warms up and rain showers down, these pods begin to open up and tender new forms of life express themselves. In a few days or weeks, brilliant colors and diverse shapes burst forth. Once bare and lifeless branches are transformed into living aroma-producing, bird-housing, shade-providing wonders of nature.

Just as the trees and bushes now express their potential, our heart’s desires, which may appear lifeless now, can be nurtured to blossom and express our life’s potential. What’s the secret?…

Two forces: Sun and rain. Well, metaphorically, of course. As the sun warms up the tree trunks, and rain nourishes the soil which allows the life energy to flow, we can add “sun” and “rain” to our desires to allow life energy to flow. Spend some time in nature this week as you reflect on the following two ideas.

1. Love: We can think of “sun” as love. Do you know how you feel when you’re relaxing in the warm sun at the beach on a summer day? You’re relaxed. As long as you’ve applied protective sun screen, the sun feels healing to your body and your worries are miles away. Life is good and you feel great. It’s that feeling you want to apply to your heart’s desires. You want to get into that feeling space of loving your self and your life…of knowing that all is right with the world. Meditation is a good place to start with this. So is visualization. Whatever gets you connected with your Source and allows your mind to “live in the possibility” of your desires fulfilled, is a good practice. Spend time each day actively loving your self, your talents, your uniqueness and the gift you bring to the world. You are a magnificent expression of life…even more glorious than a pear tree in full blossom. Radiate warm love into your desires. Remember that, just like the natural rebirthing process of spring, the fulfillment of your desires is a natural process. Just as a tree is meant to blossom in the spring, you are meant to realize your potential. Consciously love your desires into manifestation.

2. The element of “rain” has two components…affirmation and action.

Affirmation: Similar to the way in which rain nourishes the soil which feeds plants and trees, positive affirmations nourish your soul and your heart’s desires. Structure your affirmations such that they first affirm the truth that you are connected with the Source, followed by a statement of the absolute truth about you. Repeating affirmations should not be about “countering” some current experience. Their purpose should be to remind you of your innate wholeness, and call forth your divine right to a fulfilling, joyous, successful and prosperous life. For example, if I were affirming financial prosperity, I might say something along the lines of: “Because I am a unique expression of Universal limitless good, I am now infinitely abundant, prosperous and free, as I was created to be.” Repeat positive affirmation throughout your day…upon rising, before falling off to sleep, while waiting in line, driving in traffic, and each time your mind starts to drift into fear and doubt. Remember that you are “nourishing” the soil of your mind and soul which feeds your belief…and therefore your experience in life.

Action: it is a fact of nature that the right amount of rain nourishes life and supports the growth of all good things. Too much in one place and destructive floods occur. Too little rain and living things wither and die. We can think of our daily activity in this way. In order to support the manifestation of your heart’s desires, you need to take action. Too little action and the manifestation withers and dies. Too much action and you’ll be carried away by a flood of overwhelm. By “too much action” I mean running around trying to make things happen without being connected to the Source of intuitive wisdom that would guide you into effective action. Again, I stress the importance of first connecting with Source through meditation, quiet journaling or other such practice that aligns you with your inner intuition. Through this practice you will open yourself to an inner wisdom and be guided as to what exactly you need to do in the physical world to support the realization of your dreams. As you take action, affirm your talents and capabilities as well as the fact that the universe loves and supports you. Action, taken in this way then becomes focused, empowered and purposeful, instead of exhausting and stressful.

So again, take some time this week to connect with nature. Take a walk in the mountains, along the beach, in the woods, or the desert in bloom. As you do, contemplate these ideas and make them your own. Then, come back, get ready, and get going.